[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 95 (Monday, July 15, 2002)]
[House]
[Page H4598]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[[Page H4598]]
HONORING AMERICAN ZOO AND AQUARIUM ASSOCIATION
Mr. GILCHREST. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to
the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 408) honoring the American Zoo
and Aquarium Association and its accredited member institutions for
their continued service to animal welfare, conservation education,
conservation research, and wildlife conservation programs.
The Clerk read as follows:
H. Con. Res. 408
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That the Congress recognizes and honors the
American Zoo and Aquarium Association and its member
institutions of zoological parks and aquariums for their
dedicated service in animal welfare, conservation education,
conservation research, and wildlife conservation programs.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Maryland (Mr. Gilchrest) and the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands
(Mrs. Christensen) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Gilchrest).
Mr. GILCHREST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, founded in 1924, the American Zoo Association is a
nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of zoos and
aquariums. AZA institutions draw over 135 million visitors annually and
have more than 5 million zoo and aquarium members. These institutions
teach more than 12 million people each year in living classrooms,
dedicate an estimated $50 million annually to education programs,
invest an estimated $50 million annually to scientific research, and
support over 1,300 field conservation research projects in 80
countries.
AZA member institutions are a critical component in the conservation
of marine mammals in the wild through broad-based education research
and standing recovery rehabilitation programs.
Additionally, many AZA facilities and scientists collaborate with
researchers from colleges, universities, and other scientific
institutions to conduct studies important to species conservation and
health. AZA facilities have developed species survival plans which are
cooperative long-term breeding and conservation programs that provide
many species with an insurance policy against extinction. Some of the
species covered by these plans include all the great apes, Africa and
Asian elephants, Siberian and Sumatran tigers, and black, white
Sumatran and greater one-horned rhinos.
These cooperative conservation programs support both field and
institutional research to ensure that these animals are carefully
managed and maintain a healthy self-sustaining population that is
genetically diverse and demographically stable.
AZA institutions across the United States have maintained high
curatorial and veterinarian standards for zoos and aquariums in
addition to supporting programs that protect, conserve, and restore
wild animal populations.
Mr. Speaker, H. Con. Res. 408 commends the American Zoo and Aquarium
Association for all the great work they have done, and I urge Members
to support passage of this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
(Mrs. CHRISTENSEN asked and was given permission to revise and extend
her remarks.)
Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise also in support of this
concurrent resolution recognizing the American Zoo and Aquarium
Association for its outstanding role in the conservation of the world's
biodiversity and for its advancement of zoos and aquariums here and
abroad.
Collectively, AZA member institutions draw over 135 million visitors
each year. This affords the AZA facilities a huge opportunity and
responsibility to instruct the public on the need to protect and
conserve the wonders of the natural world.
{time} 1545
The wide variety of public education and interpretive programs made
available through AZA institutions admirably fulfills this mission, and
I applaud the AZA for their important work towards developing the next
generation of wildlife conservation.
In closing, H. Con. Res. 408 is noncontroversial, and I urge its
adoption by the House.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. GILCHREST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands and the
staff on both sides of the aisle for supporting this legislation in
recognizing all of those people, whether it is a tiny zoo in Cecil
County, Maryland, or Salisbury, Maryland, or the magnificent aquarium
in Baltimore, Maryland, to zoos and aquariums all across this country
by trying to understand, and doing a pretty good job of it, of
understanding the nature of the magnificence of where people fit into
the natural environment on this blue planet.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman of the subcommittee for the
gentleman's leadership and the work he has done to accommodate the
needs and unique considerations of the territories as we work on the
Committee on Resources. We have no members of AZA, but we do have Coral
World in St. Thomas, and I am hoping at some point in the near future
they will be a member of this wonderful organization.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. GILCHREST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, the Virgin Islands is a beautiful place in the
Caribbean; that is its own AZA.
Mr. GILCHREST. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Culberson). The question is on the
motion offered by the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Gilchrest) that the
House suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con.
Res. 408.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the concurrent resolution was
agreed to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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